Story of Five Women Is Important

“Five Seconds Snow” tells the story of five women in the capital Tehran where a common event happens for all of them.

Morteza Mirmontazemi, director, author, set and costume designer, was born in Mashhad in northeastern Iran. A graduate of theater direction from Art and Architecture Faculty of Islamic Azad University, he cooperated with Alireza Koushk Jalali last year as set designer. His work in the piece was outstanding.

Mirmontazemi was set designer of “Unachievables”, “Jijak Ali Shah or the Condition of Qajar Court”, “A Splendid Memorial”, “Aquarium and Air”, “25”, “Othello”, “Good, Bad, Maids” and “Smile Mr Alaball”.

He designed costume for “P2”, “Frequents”, “Clouds”, “Naseri Death”, “Woman, Man”, “Dark Clouds”, “Elevator”, “Story of Pandas”, “Faust” and “One Room”.

He has penned “A Silence for the Eulogy of the Sea”, “Woman, Man” and “I”. He has had several successful performances in European countries.

Mirmontazemi has received best direction award from Theater House’s Directors Festival and South Korean festival and Belarus.

“Five Seconds Snow”, which opened on October 16 and will have its last performance on November 5, is written by Abbas Jamali. Roya Teimurian, Freshteh Sadrorafaei, Azadeh Samadi, Sepideh Sabbagh, Sara Lahout and Abbas Jamali play in the piece. An interview with Mirmontazemi follows;

 

Is “Five Seconds Snow” a feminine piece?

No! Women make up a section of the society. They live besides us. “Five Seconds Snow” directs all human.

Is it a psychological drama with social theme?

Yes. This is a correct approach toward the structure of the piece. The author and I have tried to look into the people within their social backgrounds.

Is loneliness common among all characters of the piece?

Loneliness is the common issue of all mankind. Any of my pieces is inspired by my own feelings and concerns. The people seem to have busy lives and have numerous connections but they are lonely in the deep.

 

Was it supposed in the piece for the cast to look at the audience and talk to them?

The primary plan of the piece was way different from what you see now. Like my past pieces, I talked with Abbas Jamali. He presented a several pages’ idea based on the talks. Later the crimes by “Jelly Man” was revealed in Shiraz. Abbas Jamali presented that and worked on it to reach the ambience you see now.

 

Is he piece getting closed to a documentary?

We used from documentaries but we did not get close to documentary theater. The story of these five women was important and “Jelly Man” story was on the sideline of the story. If we wanted to make a true story, we should act based on fact and figures to show the realities. Jamali and I used just a one-line report on “Jelly Man” on the internet and his rape of women. There is a metaphor in our performance.

 

Can we say that “Five Seconds Snow” has a maze-like structure like 21 Grams or Babel that an event ties the fate of several persons together?

I do not see such similarity. The fate of these people would relate to each other at the end in these two movies. My “Clouds”, which I directed a few years ago, is a more interlocking story similar to these two movies.  

 

Does any of these women have their own problems?

Yes. Every one of them faces her own woe. The life of all of us has its challenges and opportunities at the same time. I did not create strange problem for these women. They wrestle with routine daily problems.

 

Is one of the positive points of your piece picturing the details of daily lives elegantly and smartly?

These details complete the characters. The author has walked a tough path in this regard. The actresses injected new ideas to the piece too. When we could say, the piece is successful that these small details match together perfectly and could touch the audience. The generalities were not important for us.